All Alone
by Emily Elizabeth
Summary: A Lindsay fic. 'She's a little girl with nothing wrong, and she's all alone'


Title: All Alone

Author:  Emily

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Don't own them; Don't sue.

Summary:  'She's a little girl with nothing wrong, and she's all alone.'  A story about the masks that Lindsay wears.

A/N~ This is set before Lady Heather's Box. 

~*~*~

_Spinning, laughing, dancing to  
her favorite song  
A little girl with nothing wrong  
Is all alone_  
  


"Bye, Linds!  I love you!" Catherine called to her daughter as she hopped out of the truck.

"Bye, Mommy!  I love you, too," she called back, running up the steps into the elementary school.  Catherine drove away, and Lindsay hurried into her classroom.  After depositing her backpack and lunchbox in her cubby, she sat down at her desk next to her friend, Lucy Richmond.

"Hi, Lindsay," Lucy said, "Are you going to the carnival on Saturday?"

"Yeah.  My mommy and daddy are taking me, and Daddy said he'll take me on the Ferris wheel, and Mommy said I can eat as much cotton candy as I want.  And then we're going out somewhere special for dinner.  Me and Mommy and Daddy always do something special on the weekend." Lindsay said, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Wow," Lucy said, "I wish my mommy and daddy did stuff like that with me.  We don't do anything special.  I'm going with my sister and her boyfriend.  Yuck," she made a face, "You're lucky, Lindsay- you have the best mommy and daddy in the world." 

"I know.  Me and Mommy and Daddy do everything together," she said, looking down at her desk.

_Eyes wide open  
Always hoping for the sun  
And she'll sing her song to anyone  
that comes along_

"How was your day, sweetie?" Catherine asked when she came home from work.

"It was okay," Lindsay said, looking up from her coloring, "Mommy?" she tentatively began, "On Saturday there's a carnival, and everybody's going, Could we go?  Please, Mommy?"

"Lindsay, you're with Daddy this weekend.  You have to ask him to take you."

"I know, but," she paused, "but I was thinking that maybe all of us could go.  You know, like a family."

Catherine sighed.  "Lindsay, you know we can't do that," she said, pulling up a chair next to her daughter, "Mommy and Daddy just don't get along.  But I'm sure Daddy will take you if you ask him."  She kissed her forehead and rose from her chair.  "Daddy's going to be here in a little while.  Why don't you go get ready?"

"Okay," she said quietly, and went into her room.  Closing the door, she sat down on her bed and began to cry.  She cried for herself, she cried for her mother, she cried for her father, and she cried for her broken family.

Fragile as a leaf in autumn  
Just fallin' to the ground  
Without a sound

"Daddy, could we go to the carnival tomorrow?  Everybody else is going," Lindsay earnestly asked her father when they got in the car.

"Uh, actually, pumpkin, Daddy thought we could do something else, " Eddie said.

"What?" Lindsay asked, "Could we go see the tigers?"

"Well, I thought we could go to the club and meet one of Daddy's friends."

"Daddy, Mommy said you're not supposed to take me to see your girlfriends at the club.  And I really, really want to go to the carnival," Lindsay pleaded, "Please, Daddy, please could we go?"

"Pumpkin, we can't go to the carnival.  Daddy's got work to do at the club.  Maybe we can go next weekend."  He looked at her through the mirror.  "Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered.  She turned her head and looked out the window, a single tear traveling down her cheek.

~*~*~__

"Lindsay, I didn't see you at the carnival on Saturday.  Did you go?" Lucy asked her at school on Monday.

"Uh, no.  Daddy took us to the movies instead, because he said there was going to be a better carnival in a few weeks that we could go to, and I would be too tired of carnivals if we went to this one.  But we had a lot of fun," she lied.

"Oh, cool!" Lucy exclaimed.    
  


"Yeah," she said softly, "We had a lot of fun.  Me and Mommy and Daddy always have a lot of fun together.  I have the best mommy and daddy in the world."

Crooked little smile on her face  
Tells a tale of grace  
That's all her own

She's a little girl with nothing wrong  
And she's all alone

~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note:  This story was inspired by the song _Seven Years_ by Norah Jones.  I got the CD for Christmas, and the plot bunnies started attacking. :-D  I wrote this the day after Christmas, but I wasn't happy with it.  I put it away for a few months, then worked on it some more, then put it away for a few months, and then took it out tonight and worked on it even more.  I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I'm posting it anyway.  Reviews are _really_ appreciated, especially with this story, because I really want to improve on it.  If you have any suggestions or comments, please take two minutes to let me know.  That's all I ask.  Thanks.

~Emily


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